- Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
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Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia 
CSN Philadelphia logo Launched October 1, 1997 Network Comcast SportsNet Owned by NBCUniversal
Philadelphia PhilliesSlogan Nobody does Philly Sports Better! Country United States Language English Broadcast area Philadelphia Metro Area
Eastern Pennsylvania
South Jersey
DelawareHeadquarters CSN Philadelphia Wells Fargo Center Studios Replaced PRISM Network (1976-1997)
SportsChannel Philadelphia (1990-1997)Sister channel(s) WCAU
Comcast NetworkWebsite CSN Philadelphia Availability Cable Available on most cable systems Check local listings for channels Verizon Fios 76 (SD)
576 (HD)Service Electric 28 (SD)
528 (HD)RCN 29 (SD)
179 (HD)Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia (CSN Philadelphia) is a regional sports network that is the charter member of Comcast SportsNet. It primarily serves the Philadelphia metro area, but its reach extends to cover Southeastern Pennsylvania, all of South Jersey, and most of Delaware.
CSN Philadelphia is owned by NBCUniversal and was the first Comcast SportsNet channel. It is the cable home of the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers, NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, MLB's Philadelphia Phillies, and MLS's Philadelphia Union. The network also covers local college sports games, including the Philadelphia Big Five, the Atlantic 10, and the Colonial Athletic Association.
CSN Philadelphia debuted on October 1, 1997, replacing the PRISM Network and SportsChannel in the Philadelphia area.
CSN Philadelphia's studios and offices are located inside the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. CSN Philadelphia also has a small studio inside Citizens Bank Park, which is used sporadically during the baseball season.
In addition, Comcast owns the Comcast Network, which on occasion will air Phillies games in the Philadelphia metro area when a Flyers or 76ers game airs on CSN Philadelphia. Some Flyers and 76ers games are also aired by Comcast Network, while WPHL-TV carries some Phillies games.
Contents
Anchors
Current
- Michael Barkann (August 1997)
- John Boruk (July 2006)
- Ron Burke (August 1997–1999, January 2002)
- Amy Fadool (January 2009)
- Leslie Gudel (August 1997)
- Derrick Gunn (August 1997)
- Marshall Harris (March 2008)
- Neil Hartman (August 1997)
- Lisa Hillary (September 2010)
- Dei Lynam (August 1997)
- Gregg Murphy(December 2008)[1]
Former
- Phil Andrews (August 2005 - March 2008)
- Pat Boyle
- Pete Christy (August 1997 - September 2002)
- Lance Crawford (2000–2008)
- Scott Hanson (2000–2002)
- Al Meltzer (August 1997 - 2001)
- Mike Rodgers (2002–2004)
- Erick Weber (2006)
- Matt Yallof (2000–2006)
Programming
News
Football
- Eagles Pre Game Live
- Eagles Post Game Live
Basketball
- Sixers Pre Game Live
- Sixers Post Game Live
- Sixers City
Baseball
- Phillies Pre Game Live
- Phillies Post Game Live
- Phillies Clubhouse
Ice Hockey
- Flyers Pre Game Live
- Flyers Post Game Live
- The Orange Line
Soccer
- Union Pre Game Live
- Union Post Game Live
- State of the Union
Golf
FSN on Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia
CSN Philadelphia carries FSN programming in lieu of an FSN affiliate. This offers the regions access to a variety of college sports, notably Pac-10 basketball on various nights, plus Big 12 and Pac-10 football on Saturdays during their respective seasons. This arrangement is to secure national coverage for its collegiate lineup of games.
Availability
Satellite carriage controversy
Unlike most other cable networks, CSN Philadelphia is distributed only via microwave and fiber optics. The infrastructure Comcast uses for this was left over from the now defunct PRISM Network. Since CSN Philadelphia does not uplink its signal to any satellite, Comcast was able to avoid an FCC regulation that requires most television channels to be offered to direct broadcast satellite (DBS) companies (known as the "terrestrial loophole"). As a result of limited availability, DBS providers DirecTV and Dish Network realized far slower penetration into the Philadelphia market. Craig Moffett, a senior analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. L.L.C., estimated the number of potential customers lost due to the loophole at 450,000.[2]
On January 20, 2010, the FCC voted 4-1 to close the terrestrial loophole.[2] Lawyers for DirecTV and Dish Network had attempted to show that Comcast Corporation, who owns both CSN Philadelphia along with most of the cable systems in the Philadelphia market, acted in restraint of trade because it did not uplink CSN Philadelphia to satellite. Comcast does not plan to appeal the decision, so DirecTV and Dish can negotiate immediately to add the channel to their lineups. Both providers formally asked for access to the channel on June 25, 2010. [3] On July 28, 2010, it was reported that Comcast is in talks with DirecTV and Dish Network for carriage of CSN Philadelphia. [4] Two days later, after accusing Comcast of refusing to negotiate in good faith, Dish Network said it will file a complaint with the FCC. [5][6] The United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia upheld the original FCC's ruling on June 10, 2011. [7]
Cable
Cable companies other than Comcast within the designated CSN Philadelphia market do have access to the channel. In December 2006, Comcast even made a deal to place CSN Philadelphia on Verizon's competing FiOS systems.[8]
In 1998 Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia almost became available to New York DMA Comcast subscribers in southern Middlesex County in the municipalities of Plainsboro, South Brunswick, Monroe, Cranbury, Jamesburg, Helmetta, Spotswood, and East Brunswick, who previously had access to PRISM. But days before it was set to be added the National Basketball Association stepped in with a cease and desist order to block the distribution of Philadelphia 76ers games in Middlesex County in spite of the fact that the NBA allowed New York Knicks and New Jersey Nets games to be aired in a part of the Philadelphia DMA (Mercer County) on MSG Network and Fox Sports New York. Unwilling to distribute the channel with the NBA basketball games blacked out, Comcast backed down. Despite this, CSN Philadelphia is available to New York DMA Comcast and Verizon FiOS subscribers in Ocean County.
Phillies games
Phillies games used to be unavailable on the satellite version of MLB Extra Innings. Beginning in 2007, both the cable and satellite version of MLB Extra Innings began to use the CSN Philadelphia feed for some games and in 2008, when MLB Extra Innings began showing both feeds of most games, all Phillies games shown on CSN Philadelphia became available to all subscribers. In 2010, Phillies games on WPHL (which are produced by CSN Philadelphia) were also shown on Extra Innings. Residents in the Philadelphia area cannot view these games due to blackout restrictions.
Highlight packages
Because of the network's distribution exclusively in the Delaware Valley, for any highlights for teams which air on CSN Philadelphia, ESPN must contract with local ABC station/sister operation WPVI-TV to provide them recordings of CSN Philadelphia for Sportscenter, NBA Fastbreak and Baseball Tonight highlight packages, which are only provided in 480i SD video as a consequence. However MLB Network and NBA TV have full access to the HD feed of CSN Philadelphia since the network must as the rights holder provide full-quality video to the properties of each league for their internet and cable operations, while Comcast provides full HD access to CSN Philadelphia to sister operations Versus and NHL Network, which both carry NHL games nationally, as Versus's headquarters are also in Philadelphia.
CSN Philadelphia HD
Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia HD is a 1080i high definition simulcast of Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia including live sports and series. CSN Philadelphia shows all[9] Philadelphia Phillies, Philadelphia Flyers, Philadelphia Union and Philadelphia 76ers games in HD. Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia also broadcasts their live studio shows in high definition, such as Daily News Live, SportsNite, and Post Game Live shows.
References
- ^ Murphy Made Fulltime at Comcast SportsNet
- ^ a b FCC: Comcast must share Phila. sports coverage
- ^ DirecTV, Dish Formally Ask For Access To Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia - Top DBS Provider Would Not Say Whether It Will File Complaint With FCC Multichannel News June 25, 2010
- ^ Comcast Discussing Philly RSN Carriage With Dish, DirecTV: Sources Multichannel News July 28, 2010
- ^ Dish Threatens FCC Complaint Against Comcast Over Philly RSN - DBS Provider Says Cable Company Refused To Negotiate 'In Good Faith' Multichannel News July 30, 2010
- ^ DISH Network and Comcast to Battle Over SportsNet Philadelphia American DISH Blog Aug 2, 2010
- ^ FCC move to close program access loophole upheld Yahoo News (Associated Press) June 10, 2011
- ^ Verizon Nets Comcast SportsNet Philadelphia Agreement - 12/4/2006 8:16:00 PM - Multichannel News
- ^ Welcome to Comcast SportsNet
External links
Categories:- Television channels and stations established in 1997
- Television stations in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Sports in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Philadelphia Flyers broadcasters
- Philadelphia 76ers broadcasters
- Philadelphia Phillies broadcasters
- Comcast SportsNet
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